1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc drive apparatus for use in reading or writing data including music, image, and the like on a disc-type media such as a compact disc (CD), a compact disc recordable (CD-R), a digital versatile disc (DVD) and the like (hereafter collectively called a disc). More specifically, the present invention pertains to a disc drive apparatus equipped with a retractable tray on which a disc is placed.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have since been known a disc drive apparatus in which a user places or removes a disc directly on or from the apparatus, a disc drive apparatus in which an automatic disc changer is provided so that several discs are mounted at a time and one of them is automatically selected, and a disc drive apparatus in which a disc is ejected or inserted while kept on a tray.
Among them, according to a disc drive apparatus equipped with a disc tray, the disc to be played is placed on the tray and then the tray is inserted into the casing of the apparatus at the time of playing music for example. After inserted, the central portion of the disc is clamped with a turntable and a clamp plate and then the disc is kept raised from the tray. When the disc needs to be replaced with another, the disc is placed down on the tray and then the tray is ejected from the casing. The tray is provided with a disc receiving portion in a shape of a circular recess in which a disc is placed in position so as to be clamped adequately.
However, when the disc drive apparatus is placed in a dimly-lit place, the position of the disc receiving portion cannot be seen clearly and therefore a user may experience an inconvenience when he or she removes or places the disc from or on the disc receiving portion.
In order to eliminate such an inconvenience, there has been proposed a disc drive apparatus in which a light emitting element is equipped inside the tray and thereby illuminates the front face portion of the tray and the disc receiving portion. (Refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication S60-194797.)
In addition, there has been proposed a disc drive apparatus which is equipped with a prism secured at the front face of the tray, a light source provided over the tray in the casing so as to illuminate the disc on the tray, and a reflector for guiding the reflected light from the disc toward the prism, thereby allowing a user to recognize the disc without ejecting the tray. (Refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication S62-39294.)
Furthermore, there has been proposed a disc drive apparatus which is furnished with a light storing material on a peripheral portion of the disc receiving (disc accommodating) portion in the tray and a light source placed over the tray in the casing of the apparatus so as to brighten the luminous material. (Refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication 2003-16769.) Also, there has been proposed a disc drive apparatus which has notches on both ends of the tray and a semi-transparent arc-shaped member is secured at the notches, thereby allowing the light emitted from a light emitting diode to pass through the semi-transparent member. (Refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication 2003-59157.)
In the configurations described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications S62-39294 and 2003-16769, since the light source is provided somewhere other than the tray, an extra room needs to be set aside for the light source, thereby causing some drawbacks in that the apparatus itself becomes inevitably larger and production costs are raised due to a provision of the prism and the reflector, which are an individual member. In addition, since the light source is fixated at an inner upper portion of the casing, it is difficult to obtain an appropriate amount of light enough to illuminate the disc receiving portion of the tray when the tray is ejected.
In the configurations described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications S60-194797 and 2003-59157, even though the light source is provided in the tray, the light source can only illuminate the vicinity thereof and cannot successfully illuminate the whole area of the disc receiving portion or the tray. More importantly, while the disc receiving portion is usually configured so as to receive two types of discs, one having a larger diameter and the other having a smaller diameter, it is difficult in a conventional disc drive apparatus to distinguish the position on which a disc of each size should be placed in a dimly-lit place.
Furthermore, when the tray is retracted in the casing, a user cannot recognize a presence (or an absence) of a disc or a disc type (a CD, a DVD, or the like). The disc drive apparatus of this type usually includes a display made of a liquid crystal display panel or the like, which gives a character representation of a presence or absence of a disc inside, a disc type, an operation status (PLAY, REC, or the like). However, those characters are so small that they are not clearly visible away from them. In addition, since such a display in a disc drive apparatus for use in a car distracts a driver's attention, the display of this type needs to be improved.